How does phospholipid behave in water?

Answer 1

Due to its polar nature, the head of a phospholipid is hydrophilic (attracted to water); the lipophilic (or often known as hydrophobic) tails are not attracted to water. When placed in water, phospholipids form one of a number of lipid phases. In biological systems this is restricted to bilayers, in which the lipophilic tails line up against one another, forming a membrane with hydrophilic heads on both sides facing the water. This allows it to form liposomes spontaneously, or small lipid vesicles, which can then be used to transport materials into living organisms and study diffusion rates into or out of a cell membrane.

This membrane is partially permeable, capable of elastic movement, and has fluid properties, in which embedded proteins (integral or peripheral proteins) and phospholipid molecules are able to move laterally. Such movement can be described by the Fluid Mosaic Model, that describes the membrane as a mosaic of lipid molecules that act as a solvent for all the substances and proteins within it, so proteins and lipid molecules are then free to diffuse laterally through the lipid matrix and migrate over the membrane. Cholesterol contributes to membrane fluidity by hindering the packing together of phospholipids. However, this model has now been superseded, as through the study of lipid polymorphism it is now known that the behaviour of lipids under physiological (and other) conditions is not simple.

Answer 2

In water phospholipids form a variety of structures depending on the specific properties of the phospholipid used. The 'head' of a phospholipid is hydrophilic (attracted to water) because contains the negatively charged phosphate group, while the hydrophobic 'tails' repel water because usually consists of long fatty acid hydrocarbon chains.

some structures are:

1) The phospholipids molecules will automatically form double-layered membranes between two aqueous layers

2) The phospholipids molecules can form Membranes where the polar head make contact with the water and the tails extend into the air.

3) The phospholipids molecules can form spherical single or multiple-layer vesicles (micelle) in water.

Answer 3

A phospholipid molecule has a non-polar water-insoluble head attached to a longer polar soluble tail.

Answer 4

The hydrophillic heads would face the water, while the hydrophobic tails would hide inside the layers

Answer 5

Phospholipids do not interact with water, because water is polar and lipids are nonpolar.